E-Safety and Internet advice for Parents March 2016
We now live in an age when many of us use the internet on a regular basis. This tool, like any tool, can be used in a healthy and safe way, or an unhealthy and dangerous way, especially if you use it without knowing how to. As the children of today are growing up in a world full of technology, this guidance for parents hopes to inform, signpost and guide about how to protect your child when they come to an age where their interest wants to take them into the screen. The internet is now available over many, many mediums, be it computer, laptop, phone, ipod, tablet, kindle, the list goes on. With so many devices now in all of our homes, the guidance below hopes to inform and guide about how keep your child safe when using the internet.
What are the risks?
There can be seen to be three main areas of risk from the internet:
- Inappropriate contact from people.
- Inappropriate content found or seen.
- Private information being unwittingly shared.
Inappropriate contact from people
The internet can be used to connect people, making working or socialising with others in different places possible when previously it was not. It also allows us to share our thoughts and interests with our friends. Although this can be positive, there are those who choose to exploit this openness. There are some who assume false identities to get to know unwary and unsuspecting victims. Watch this video to find out more:
Sam’s Real Friends
To help protect against this:
- Ensure all privacy settings are set to private for all online accounts.
- Make sure your child is only friends with people they actually know in real life.
- Do not put up personal contact details like phone number, address or email.
Inappropriate content found or seen
When children begin to use the internet, they will search for things of interest to them, either for school work, or for their own entertainment. Some of the content they can find you, as the parent, will be happy with, but there will be other content you would not want them to see. However, there are other ways that your child might meet content you are not happy for them to see, such as picture messaging on their phones.
Content through the internet
This could be accessed through a computer, laptop, phone, tablet, small handheld devices, games consoles, some televisions, and some satellite or freeview boxes. You can help to control what they see in the following ways:
- Have the family computer in a shared space, so you can see what they are looking at.
- Allow access to the internet only through this shared computer, not through mobiles, ipods, tablets or laptops.
- Restrict the content available by using the parental controls. You can access these through your internet provider. The following links may be helpful:
- Mobile phone parental controls
- Internet provider parental controls
Content through mobile phones
Aside from the internet, mobile phones can also be used to share content which you feel is unsuitable for your child, such as indecent images. This is called Sexting, and you can find out more by visiting the Child Line Website shown below.
Private information being unwittingly shared
When using social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapshat, Twitter, Beboetc., the account holder provides information about themselves. The amount given is up to the user, but often the user is not aware how to hide this information, or even that this information is shared openly. Unless you ask for the information to be hidden, it will likely be public. You can test this by searching for yourself by using a search engine, and seeing what you can see of your profile.
When children start to use social networking sites, they are unlikely to be aware of this. To help keep them safe, create the account with them, show them how to adjust their privacy settings and connect with them through your own account if you have one. If they are unaware of their settings, anyone can find out their personal information, see their images and watch their activity. Below is another video which you may find useful for yourself, or to share with your children once they reach the older classes.
Consequences
Talk about the internet
The best way to help your child learn to navigate this vast sea is to be open with them, talk to them about their use and learn how to use it competently yourself. If you are able to talk to them openly about what they are doing, or what you are doing on the internet, they can learn that you are holding consciousness around this topic, that you are informed and interested in what they are doing and how they are using it. If you are also able to learn how to use it yourself, you will be better placed to educate and guide them as they are initially learning, whilst knowing they are doing so within the boundaries you feel appropriate.
Further information
SDSS E-/Online Safety & Digital resilience Jan 2018 document available on our website, ‘ABOUT’ – ‘SAFEGUARDING’ on the right sidebar
CEOP: Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre:
Childnet offer some helpful advice on their website:
Thinkyouknowsite aimed at children, although there is a parent section too.
Internet Matters webpage with age-related information about e-safety:
If you would like to discuss any of the issues arising from the information above, please contact the safeguarding team by emailing
Jonathan Hobbs
March 2016